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Today: May 24, 2004 at 17:06:38 PDT
A majority of Americans have their doubts about President Bush's handling of Iraq, according to polls released Monday as Bush tries to bolster his public support on the issue.
The proportion of Americans who approve of the way the president is handling Iraq is about one-third or slightly more, depending on the poll.
-A CBS News poll found 34 percent approve, while 61 percent disapprove. An ABC-Washington Post poll found that 40 percent approve, while 58 percent disapprove. Independents disapprove of Bush's handling of Iraq by a 2-1 margin.
-About six in 10 of Americans in both polls and the National Annenberg Election Survey said the Bush administration lacks a clear plan for Iraq.
-Six in 10 in both polls say they think the prisoner abuse in Iraq was done by a few individuals, rather than being widespread behavior. But half in the Annenberg poll said they thought the soldiers involved were following orders.
-A majority, 57 percent, disapprove of the way Bush is handling the Iraqi prisoner abuse situation. That's up from 35 percent who disapproved early this month, the ABC-Post poll found.
-About six in 10 in the CBS poll say they do not think the June 30 handover of power in Iraq will happen, but almost that many said it should happen at that time.
-A majority in the ABC-Post poll, 58 percent, said U.S. troops should stay in Iraq until civil order is restored.
The ABC-Post poll of 1,005 adults and the CBS News poll of 1,113 adults were taken May 20-23. Each has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Annenberg poll of 1,997 adults was taken May 17-23 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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If I was sitting on my fat ass all day eating ho ho's, twinkies and drinking diet soda while watching Couric, Sawyer, Lauer, Gibson and Winfrey, I'd be as clueless as my cat, too.